Indulging Forgiveness
Indulging Forgiveness
October 31st, 2013
As the path of life, with its many lessons, converges with the yoga path each of us gets to discover and unfold. Lessons are presented. New concepts are explored. Old behaviors show themselves to us (sometimes over and over again.) Yoga gives us that extra moment of timeless nature to pause and reflect on it all.
Recently I have been pondering a concept of life, and at first the words “sinner to savior” came to mind. Now granted Key West just finished 10 days of indulging, carousing, celebrating, creating and rabblerousing all in the name of FantasyFest! Offering Yoga on the Beach each morning I found myself looking at how to market morning well-being, after the evening celebrations and late nights.
When the term “sinner to savior” popped into my mind I realized that thought was coming from a very old teaching, rooted in my Catholic upbringing, ripe with duality. It didn’t seem to really represent where I was with this concept (only where I have been.) My mind did a few flips and flops and I finally settled on “indulgence and forgiveness.”
That is the concept I’ve been searching for – to explore and to share – Indulgence and Forgiveness. How do they play off of one another? How are they one and the same? When we indulge our way through life enjoying the moment does forgiveness have to be an after thought or action, or can it be right there in the moment, linked in a self loving way with our enjoyment? Indulging Forgiveness
Yoga helps me to continually look for the way of Unity. At what point does the sense of duality shift for us, as with these 2 dynamic energies, to create oneness – one thing? Just as inhalation and exhalation (2 other very dynamic forces) creates breath, how does indulging and forgiveness blend to form one thing? Indulgent Forgiveness
In each of us is a mindfulness that rises up to explore new concepts, to expand our awareness and consciousness. Yoga is a practice in this process. On the mat and off of it, in a group or by ourselves, we have the time, space and grace to allow mindfulness to embrace new concepts, and to discover the way of living life cooperatively. When we are face to face with a decision, and we have awakened a level of mindfulness that is rooted in self nurturing, it is easy to have our life choices and challenges move from “sinner vs savior” to indulgent forgiveness.
Each and every choice is no longer an act of doing “bad” that needs penance. Instead your choices are looked at from a self- loving, caring and forgiving place. How will this truly bring joy and a feeling of well being to me becomes the question? Will I feel good in the moment, only to be followed by self hatred, disgust or a need to punish myself OR will the feeling of good linger and meld into the next moment of choice or life lesson? Asking these questions on the bridge of decision helps us to cross the bridge onto the decisive side of well being.
Some lessons we choose to learn from watching others and mimicking in a very subconscious nature. Here is one that you can raise to the surface of consciousness and make on your own every moment. The lesson of Indulging Forgiveness, a moment to moment awareness of how your next decision will create long standing well being for you and linger around for a long time, while influencing many. Pause, take note, feel and with your next breath choose with awareness your next act of Indulging Forgiveness.